The Talk
by QuickSpinner
Summary: Grug knew this moment was coming, but that doesn't mean he's ready for it. When Guy wants to talk to him alone, Grug knows he isn't going to like where this is going.


_AN: This story was partially inspired by the little throwaway line where Gran talks about being traded to Ugga's father. That set up the idea both for this conversation, and some of the backstory I've made up and included. Set sometime after the movie – you can make your own call as to how long it's been since they arrived in tomorrow. This story was ambiguous pronoun hell, so hopefully I've managed to clean it up so that it's understandable without being too awkward. _

Grug had come to like fishing. It wasn't as active as regular hunting, but it allowed the big man to sit and relax without feeling like he was neglecting the needs of his family. Fishing was hunting, after a kind, anyway, and time spent finding food was never wasted. If finding food meant sitting on a nice rock in the warm sun instead of running some kind of crazy relay race on sand hot enough to burn your feet, well, so much the better.

His enjoyment would have been perfect if he could forget that he owed it all to Guy. Guy, who had first taught him to fish using thorny branches for hooks. Guy, who had later painstakingly carved hooks from bone, and taught Grug how to do the same. Guy, who taught them that fish could be eaten in the first place and showed them how to cook it.

His grudging respect for the boy had begun in the tar pit, when he finally really looked at the skinny, breakable youth and understood just how long he had been surviving alone, unprotected by either cave or family. It had been growing ever since, as Guy's knowledge, experience, and ideas had shaped their lifestyle here in Tomorrow. Grug knew it was petty to feel resentful that Guy could do so much for the family, to blame Guy for Grug's own feelings of uselessness, but - sometimes he couldn't help it.

Still, they had come a long way since Grug had seen Guy as nothing but a threat to the family's safety and his own authority. He'd even come to like the kid a little bit. Sometimes.

That didn't mean Grug was ready for the conversation that he knew was coming when Guy clambered up to join him on the outcropping of rocks that had become his favorite fishing spot. Grug didn't move as Guy carefully edged along the large, flat rock to where Grug was seated.

"Hey," Guy said, looking thoroughly uncomfortable. "Can I join you?"

Grug grunted.

"Ooookay, I'm going to take that as a yes," Guy said, shifting over to sit near Grug. "So...catching much?"

"Not yet," Grug said, a little defensively.

"Oh. Well, it's early." Guy fidgeted, wrapping his long-fingered hands around one knee. "Uh..."

Grug waited. Guy cleared his throat. "Um, I-I kind of wanted to talk to you. About-ahem, about Eep."

Grug sighed through his teeth, and said nothing. Silence fell for a while, and then Grug heard the boy take a slow breath and let it out.

"Grug, I want her for my mate," Guy finally said, his voice quiet, but serious. "I need to know what it's going to take for that to happen."

And there it was.

Grug wouldn't look at him. "Have you talked to her?"

"No," Guy said, looking down at the water. "I wanted to know where I stood with you first."

Grug nodded slowly. "What took you so long?"

Guy hesitated. "I-wanted her to be sure."

Now Grug turned to him. "Excuse me?"

Guy swallowed hard, a little bit of fear suddenly showing on what had been a carefully blank expression. "Eep-well, you know how she gets about anything new, and-" His face crimsoned over. "I'm new. Was new. I thought-"

"Maybe she would get over you," Grug finished for him. He turned away. "Yeah, I thought so too."

"She hasn't," Guy said softly, his gaze turning out to the water. "And-I haven't."

"No," Grug sighed. "She's just as crazy over you as she ever was." He shook his head. "Why couldn't her mother have been like that?" he muttered. "I thought Ugga hated me when her father gave her to me."

"Really?" Guy looked startled.

Grug smiled wryly. "Ugga was a lot like Eep when she was younger. She didn't much like being told what to do. Her father tried to beat it out of her, and it got her obedience, but it didn't do much for her temper." His eyes grew distant. "She was a wild, crazy girl, and I loved her so much. And that old skinflint knew it. He made me trade practically everything I had for her."

"You...seem okay now..." Guy said cautiously.

Grug shrugged. "It wasn't me she hated, it was not having a choice. We'd known each other since we were kids, and I'd been in love with her forever, and she knew it. It took her a little time, is all. To get over being treated like nothing but goods to be traded, and not having any choice of her own. We-worked it out. Then the kids came, and she was a natural mother." He glanced at Guy. "We lost one between Eep and Thunk. He was just born much too early. He didn't have a chance." Grug twitched his fishing line. "Our other little girl was born dead. Before Sandy. That was a hard year. Eep was growing like a weed, and Thunk was still so young. There wasn't much food and we all had to go hungry a lot...maybe that was why." He closed his eyes. "I did the best I could, but—it wasn't enough.

Guy stared at him. "I didn't know."

Grug shook himself. "That broke Ugga, a little bit. She changed, after that. She became - a lot more like me." Grug gave a lopsided grin.

Guy let out his breath slowly. "I'm sorry."

Grug shook his head. "We've been lucky. All of our children that were born healthy have survived. Not everybody can say that. Anyway, my point is, it's a hard thing, raising a family. It's a big responsibility, even just taking a mate. Suddenly, you're responsible for more than just you. Suddenly you're carrying the burden of everyone else's survival, and when you make mistakes, people you love get hurt, or worse." His voice hardened. "It's one thing to survive on your own. It's another thing completely to provide and care for a family."

Guy dropped his eyes, his jaw tightening, and looked at his hands.

Grug took a deep breath. "You already know that. You've been taking responsibility for this family since we met. Without you, we might not have survived." Guy's head snapped up. Grug continued without looking at him, "You got us here. You taught us what we needed to know to live in the light. You made us tools and showed us how to use them. Taught us new ways to hunt," he tugged his fishing line again, "and how to make fire and cook what we eat so we don't get sick. Most of all, you taught us to live without being afraid, and thanks to that, I've got some of the old Ugga back - I owe you plenty for that by itself. There's nothing I could ask you to give or do for this family that you haven't already done." He sighed, and turned to face Guy, looking him in the eye. "I love Eep more than anything else in this world."

"So do I," Guy replied, meeting Grug's gaze.

"I want her to be safe and fed and happy," continued Grug. "I know you can do that for her." He turned back to the water. "If this is what Eep wants, I don't need anything else. Just-don't take her too far away. That's all I ask."

Guy stared at him. After a moment, Grug reached out and shoved him in the chest with two knuckles. "Breathe," Grug ordered.

Guy let out the breath he'd been holding in a whoosh and began to stammer. Grug reached over and slapped his back so hard that Guy almost fell off the rock.

"You've got your answer, just get out of here," Grug muttered. "Your babbling is scaring away all my fish."

Guy scrambled to his feet. "Fish. Right. Leaving. Now." He edged back along the rock, but before he jumped down, he turned back. "Thanks, Grug. Really. I'll take care of her, I promise." He grinned. "Not that she needs it."

Grug waved him away. "She could still say no," he muttered, half to himself.

When Grug came back into the family camp (without any fish), Eep was nowhere to be seen and Guy was a distracted, nervous mess. It was funny, watching the normally self-assured young man trip, drop things, wander off in the middle of sentences, and generally make himself of no use at all. If it weren't for Belt, he might have graduated from "useless" to "total disaster" in short order, but through strategic pokes, trilled warnings, and timely rescues of implements from the fire or Sandy, the sloth kept him from doing any real harm.

"Where's Eep?" Grug asked Ugga in an undertone.

"Hunting," his mate replied, looking up from the knife she was sharpening - Guy's handiwork, as if Grug needed yet another reminder of all this man who looked like a boy had done for them. "Why?"

"Just wondering. How long's she been gone?"

"Almost all day." Ugga glanced at Guy. "What's with him?"

Grug chuckled. "Who knows? He's never been exactly normal."

Ugga gave him a sharp look, but Grug put on his most innocent face and wandered away.

Eep came back late in the afternoon, with a very satisfied expression, dragging the carcass of an animal twice her size on a frame made of branches (another of Guy's ideas).

It took some time to clean and cook the kill. Watching Guy out of the corner of his eye, Grug saw that the younger man barely ate.

When there were nothing but bones left and the family was stretched out comfortably around the fire, Guy suddenly stood up.

"Eep?"

Eep looked up, her eyes big over a bone she'd been nibbling, and Guy held a hand out to her that shook slightly. Grug hid a grin. "Come with me?"

Eep looked surprised, but tossed the bone aside, licked her fingers, and went to him. They walked off into the trees together in the direction of the beach, and Grug watched them go with a resigned sigh. Belt, busy entertaining Sandy, looked after them with a knowing, "Ooooooo."

Grug glanced up to see Ugga and Gran looking at him. "What?" he asked irritably.

"Grug, is he-" Ugga glanced after Eep and Guy, and then back at Grug. "Did you and Guy talk? I know he was looking for you this morning."

Grug jerked a quick nod, and Ugga exchanged an astonished look with her mother. Gran cackled.

"It's about time. If I were half my age, _I'd_ take him."

"Thanks for that," Grug said flatly. Thunk looked between the adults, confused. "Don't worry about it," Grug told him, ruffling his hair.

Guy and Eep returned just as the sun was going down, walking into camp with their fingers tightly laced together. So much for his last hope, Grug couldn't help thinking. A look at Eep's face resigned him to it. She looked like Guy's hand was the only thing keeping her on the ground. The pair looked rather startled to find all eyes on them. They looked at each other, and then Guy cleared his throat. "Uh, she said yes," he said, with an embarrassed shrug and a grin that somehow managed to be even goofier than usual.

The Croods cheered, except for Grug, who just sat back and tried to look happy, or at least, not to look totally miserable. Eep let go of Guy's hand and flew at her father, leaping to throw her arms around his neck. "I love you," she whispered.

"Are you happy?" Grug asked, hugging her tight. Still his little girl. Always his little girl.

"Yeah," she choked, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Okay," he said, patting her back. She squeezed his neck again, and then he let her slide to the ground. "I love you too, Eep."

Eep flashed one more grin at him, and then ran back to Guy, who was turning rather blue under the crush of Ugga's affection. Gran was wiping her eyes dramatically.

Grug rolled his eyes at all of them and turned back to the fire, idly throwing bits of bark into it. A few minutes later, Guy sat down next to him. "Hey."

"Hey," Grug replied.

"Listen, Grug, about the not taking her away thing," Guy said, picking at his fingernails. "I won't. I wouldn't. She loves you all. And...so do I. We're not going anywhere. Much. I mean, we'll go a little bit-" He turned red.

"I get it." Grug cut him off before that line of thought could get any further. "Thanks. And-call me dad."

Guy looked stunned, and then happy. "Okay. Thanks-Dad."

Grug cringed. "Weird."

"Totally weird," Guy agreed. Then he grinned. "We'll get used to it, right?"

"Someday. Maybe."


End file.
